We went on our (now) annual camping trip over the long Ascension Day weekend. When we booked the campsite we were thrilled that new friends Matt and Mary were going to join us with their daughters. We knew the weekend would be more fun with friends, having done the camping trip just our family the past two years. So we were majorly bummer when they had to cancel because their daughters were really sick. Especially because the weather was perfect and we knew how badly they wanted to be there (and have healthy kiddos!).
We had a corner unit in the typical Dutch field camping situation. We set up next to a Dutch family with 6-and 9-year-old girls. We were all shy for the first day or so, but with the kids staring each other down long enough, we finally made introductions and the kids had fun playing with their new friends the rest of the weekend. It was also a great way to practice our Dutch as they didn't speak any English! It was great hearing the kids use their Dutch!
The resort, Roompot Beach Resort was great, with a lot to entertain the kids. We enjoyed the indoor waterpark, playgrounds, craft activities, and nature outing. I got a lot of my book read!
The highlight for me was the proximity to a lovely beach, where we went each day. Our site was on the other side of the dunes, behind the beach houses. The location is on a body of water, sealed off from the North Sea by the Delta Works. So the water was calm and warmer than the ocean.
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| A solo sunset stroll |
On Friday we went to a local farm, which was hosting the Campina Days. Campina is the main dairy company in the NL and they open their dairy farms for visitors two times each year. They had activity books for the kids and all was great, until the end when they were out of the promised medals the kids would get for completing the tasks.
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| Family sunset walk (sunset around 9:30pm) |
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| Just when we realized we ran out of gas for the cook stove! Whomp whomp. No French toast or bacon for us :( |
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| A long beach day on Saturday after kid activities in the morning. |
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| Dinner out at a local brew pub complete with a huge playground and our camping neighbor friends who happened to go to the same restaurant! |
There was good wifi and we were able to stream the Eurovision finale Saturday night. Such a disappointment that the Dutch artist was disqualified for some backstage incident. His super catchy song, Europapa is such a hit, and while it wasn't favored to win, it would have been fun to watch!
There was other entertainment that night in the form of Northern Lights! The display that was visible across parts of the US was also visible in the NL. I'm not convinced we saw them though as the lights we saw were centered around the cafe and could have just been spotlights! The night sky was completely clear though and the stars over the beach were still very special.
Sunday was Mother's day and our kids were in a funk having had to say goodbye to their new friends. We had the job of taking down and packing up camp so it was not a relaxing morning. The late nights and so much activity must have caught up with the kids as well as their behavior all day was rather atrocious! Pete did his best to manage their moods, but it was declared that I was due a Mother's Day do over!
It was another beautiful day so after packing up, we spent some time at the water park and then had lunch at the resort cafe before ending our trip with a few hours at the beach.
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| A little peace thanks to Pete! |
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